Bridges and Tunnels

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 8, 2015

Vocations column; David Flores, bridge inspector for HNTB, describes his job requirements. MORE

Mar. 3, 2015

Toronto police say two unnamed 20-year-old men built mystery tunnel near the site of summer Pan American Games as a man cave to escape from it all, putting to rest speculation the 33-foot-long wooden structure was part of terrorist plot. MORE

Feb. 26, 2015

Rail commuters traveling between New York City and New Jersey have been subject to delays this winter as Amtrak's 'ice patrols' struggle to clear dangerous icicles from aged tunnels beneath Hudson river; old-school technique involves patrolling tunnels and manually removing icicles that can play havoc with electrical rail system. MORE

Feb. 25, 2015

Toronto police remain baffled by mysterious hand-dug 33-foot-long tunnel equipped with insulation, lights and air compressor; tunnel, which police have filled in, prompts speculation it might be part of plan for terrorist attack on Pan American Games in summer 2015, as it is near tennis stadium. MORE

Feb. 19, 2015

Washington State Transportation Dept announces that Bertha, giant boring device being used to dig tunnel in Seattle that is key element in Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project, has been repaired and is working once again. MORE

Feb. 17, 2015

Advocacy group Move NY will release proposal that would include creation of new tolls on four East River bridges in Manhattan; group says proposal would generate $1.5 billion annually, to be set aside for both transit system upgrades and improvements to city's roads and bridges. MORE

Jan. 12, 2015

Commuters in San Francisco area welcome installation of stronger traffic divider on Golden Gate Bridge, which closed span to traffic for 52-hour weekend, longest it has been closed in eight decades; Bay Area residents have called for safer median for years to stop accidents from vehicles crossing into oncoming traffic; new movable barrier is 3,500 steel-clad concrete blocks, huge improvement on flimsy plastic tubes. MORE

Dec. 10, 2014

Seattle is constructing one of nation's largest highway tunnels, project that has been plagued by series of setbacks, and city now faces new and possibly game-changing discovery; project engineers report that 30 or more buildings in historic Pioneer Square area have unexpectedly settled, with residents reporting cracked walls; City Council members are pressing for clear answers over whether project now poses safety hazard. MORE

Nov. 28, 2014

Toll for travelers on the Tappan Zee Bridge, which has long been significantly cheaper than other Hudson River crossings like the George Washington Bridge, is likely to increase; it remains unclear how much New York State will be forced to raise toll due to construction of $3.9 billion replacement for bridge (Series: 21st-Century Span). MORE

Nov. 21, 2014

Investigation by watchdog group State Authorities Budget Office reveals that New York State officials pushed through $511 million loan from federal clean-water funds for construction of new Tappan Zee Bridge; approval came despite Environmental Protection Agency rejection of most of the loan request because money was to be used for construction rather than environmental purposes. MORE

Nov. 18, 2014

Metropolitan Transportation Authority releases plans for higher fares and tolls as part of its long-term revenue plans; authority has scheduled eight public hearings in city and suburbs to solicit response from riders and drivers about proposed 4 percent rise, which MTA officials say is lower than planned because of improved financial outlook. MORE

Nov. 17, 2014

Metropolitan Transportation Authority board is expected to discuss proposals for 4 percent increase in fares and tolls across system, scheduled to rise every two years as part of long-term revenue plans; riders will have a chance to weigh in at public hearings in December. MORE

Nov. 15, 2014

Repairs and improvements on the Harlem River Lift Bridge, which was built 60 years ago and connects Manhattan and the Bronx, are scheduled to be finished in mid-March 2015 at cost of $47.2 million; overhaul is going on without disrupting the 700 Metro-North trains that cross structure daily. MORE

Oct. 21, 2014

Paris Journal; secretive community of street artists, history buffs and other Parisians regularly prowl the subterranean network known as the catacombs; some seek peace and quiet, others a place to party with friends and still others, an usual canvas for their art, which covers many catacomb walls. MORE

Oct. 7, 2014

Left Coast Lifter, one of the world’s largest floating cranes, makes its debut near Tappan Zee Bridge in Westchester, NY, after traveling down from California, through Panama Canal and up East Coast; New York Gov Andrew M Cuomo, Democrat who is running for re-election, turns crane’s appearance into a campaign opportunity. MORE

Oct. 4, 2014

Squibb Park Bridge, pedestrian catwalk linking Brooklyn Heights to Brooklyn Bridge Park, was designed to be flexible but over time, gentle bouncing became more pronounced, then worrisome; park officials say bridge, which opened in 2013 and cost $5 million, will remain closed until spring 2015 as engineers continue to study its movements. MORE

Oct. 2, 2014

Amtrak officials say that they will have to sharply curtail use of rail tunnels leading to New York City for at least a year to repair damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, move that will affect train service for tens of thousands of commuters who ride Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit trains. MORE

Sep. 28, 2014

Mary Hedge, archivist at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bridges and Tunnels Special Archive, preserves nearly a century of materials documenting the planning and construction of New York City's infrastructure; Hedge is putting together exhibition to mark 50th birthday of Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, opening at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn in October. MORE

Sep. 26, 2014

Portal Bridge in New Jersey, 100-year-old structure blamed for frequent delays on state's Northeast Corridor stretch of railroad, is in desperate need of replacement; Federal transportation officials have estimated the cost of rebuilding it at $900 million, none of which has been allocated to date. MORE

Sep. 19, 2014

Steel piles drilled into floor of the Hudson River are beginning to reveal the trail the new Tappan Zee Bridge will take to leap the three miles that separate Westchester and Rockland Counties; first span, for two-way traffic, is to be completed in December 2016, and the full bridge, which is not yet formally named, by 2018 (Series: 21st-Century Span). MORE

Sep. 18, 2014

Nijmegen Journal; showpiece bridge in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, connects old and new parts of rapidly growing community, and memorializes a bold World War II crossing. MORE

Sep. 13, 2014

Metropolitan Transportation Authority says subway service through Hurricane Sandy-damaged tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan is set to resume. MORE

Aug. 27, 2014

Jim Dwyer About New York column; couple visiting from San Diego says Dollar Rent A Car was wrong to send them a bill for $34.88, citing 'administrative fee' for $4.88 toll they incurred while driving across Henry Hudson Bridge in Manhattan; calls practice 'a white-collar scam.' MORE

Aug. 17, 2014

Christopher Gray Streetscapes column on aerial bridges around New York City that gave pedestrians a way to cross from building to building safely and above traffic. MORE

Aug. 2, 2014

Surprise attack by Palestinian militants in Rafah, Gaza, offers latest example of how Israel Defense Forces are not fully prepared for sophisticated, war-ready rival; Israel is struggling to catch up to new ways that Hamas fighters are using tunnels and to devise effective new doctrine for combat. MORE

Aug. 2, 2014

Seattle Tunnel Partners reports that world's largest tunnel-boring machine, damaged in mid-December, could be back in operation by March 2015; machine is critical component of Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program, aimed at replacing Seattle's aging viaduct and opening up city's waterfront to new development; cost of rescue operation, along with ensuing delays, could surpass $125 million. MORE

Jul. 29, 2014

Sophistication and extent of tunnels used by Hamas to infiltrate Israel from Gaza is fortifying Israeli resolve to destroy them; Israel's political and military leaders frequently mention threat from underground passages, and have gained widespread international support for eliminating them. MORE

Jul. 26, 2014

Israel Defense Forces take reporters into tunnel that runs almost two miles under border with Gaza Strip to show threat such tunnels pose, and difficulty that Israel has in ferreting them out and destroying them. MORE

Jul. 17, 2014

New York's Public Authorities Control Board approves $256 million loan from federal clean-water funds to New York State Thruway Authority to help finance building of a $3.9 billion twin-span replacement for Tappan Zee Bridge. MORE

Jun. 27, 2014

Environmental Facilities Corporation, New York State agency that lends federal money for sewer plants and other clean-water projects, approves $511 million loan to Thruway Authority for 17 projects that are part of building of twin-span replacement for Tappan Zee Bridge across Hudson River. MORE

Jun. 27, 2014

Op-Ed article by Prof Henry Petroski argues that decline in the structural quality and craftsmanship of American homes and bridges reflects larger problem of short-term thinking in nation's infrastructure projects; contrasts sturdy nature of his 60-year-old home in Maine with newer buildings that rely on inferior materials and unskilled labor; calls on homeowners, project managers and legislatures to demand higher standards from builders and contractors. MORE

Jun. 5, 2014

Delaware transportation officials say they believe contractor Jim Thomas dumped a massive mound of dirt, over several years, that may have shifted the ground beneath an Interstate 495 bridge in Wilmington, causing it to tilt and forcing its closing. MORE

May. 9, 2014

Twin-spanned replacement for Tappan Zee Bridge is being built with more consideration and sensitivity to needs and feelings of people living nearby Hudson River crossing, unlike when current bridge went up in 1950s (Series: 21st-Century Span). MORE

Apr. 17, 2014

Michael Powell Gotham column says that much of what plagues New Jersey economically can be explained by fate of Pulaski Skyway, which is on life support; notes that financing repairs is serious issue because state's transportation fund borders on insolvency, with most of its money going to pay off old bonds. MORE

Apr. 14, 2014

Planned two-year shutdown of northbound lanes of Pulaski Skyway faces first major test as thousands of drivers in New Jersey turn to alternative routes or public transportation for travel between Newark and Jersey City; shutdown will disrupt a key link for commuters who use bridge to reach New York City through the Holland Tunnel. MORE

Apr. 8, 2014

Northbound traffic on Pulaski Skyway in New Jersey will be shut down for an estimated two years for reconstruction project, severing critical link for roughly 40,000 vehicles in and around Jersey City and Newark and complicating commutes to New York City; integrity of structure, which opened in 1932, has grown increasingly worrisome in recent years, with roadbed and concrete railings so frayed that netting catches falling debris. MORE

Apr. 2, 2014

New York University's Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management reports that Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has increasingly yielded to governors on fiscally dubious projects, contributing to a need to seek new revenue from bridge and tunnel toll increases; review of agency operations shows that major flaw is relentless desire to expand beyond the agency’s core transportation functions. MORE

Apr. 1, 2014

Advocacy group Friends of Van Cortlandt Park and other residents of the northwest Bronx are petitioning city officials to build a pedestrian bridge over the Major Deegan Expressway to reconnect a particularly isolated section of the park; new bridge would also sew together the broken halves of the popular Old Croton Aqueduct Trail; effort to build bridge dates back to at least the 1990's. MORE

Mar. 23, 2014

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is undertaking $1.3 billion project to raise roadway of Bayonne Bridge, which runs between Staten Island and Bayonne, NJ, to ensure safe passage of larger container ships; project, unprecedented in bridge engineering, must be completed while bridge remains open to traffic. MORE

Mar. 22, 2014

Israeli military announces it has uncovered sophisticated tunnel that stretched hundreds of yards into its territory from the Gaza Strip and could have been used to attack or kidnap Israelis; Hamas plays down significance. MORE

Mar. 22, 2014

Residents of South Nyack, NY, town along the western end of the Tappan Zee Bridge, have raised concerns about plans for three-mile path for bicyclists and pedestrians on the new Tappan Zee bridge; residents say the path will unsettle a quiet family neighborhood, inviting scores of cars with bike racks scrambling for parking on their tidy streets, along with food trucks. MORE

Mar. 8, 2014

New York State officials announce that another ramp to Tappan Zee bridge will be closed so that it can be used as a staging area in the construction of a $3.9 billion, twin-spanned bridge that is going up parallel to the current crumbling structure; many drivers in Tarrytown area are worried that closing will lead to more traffic problems. MORE

Feb. 18, 2014

Mammoth subterranean excavations for New York City’s Third Water Tunnel, the Second Avenue Subway and the Long Island Rail Road’s East Side Access Project have enabled geologists to see for themselves the rock formations and faults that they had only been able to imagine, undergirding Manhattan. MORE

Jan. 28, 2014

Left Coast Lifter, floating crane that can hoist 1,900 tons at a time, will enable Tappan Zee Constructors to build, faster and with less expense, $3.9 billion replacement bridge across Hudson River; crane was lifted roughly 54 feet above Pacific sea level in two stages at the Panama Canal, on its way from the West Coast to Westchester County. MORE

Jan. 20, 2014

New colossal steel bridge is finally beginning to rise over Hudson River as replacement for decaying Tappan Zee Bridge; as-yet-unnamed bridge will carry eight lanes of traffic 3.1 miles between Rockland and Westchester Counties, and will be by some measures the widest in the world (Series: 21st-Century Span). MORE

Jan. 20, 2014

Private investors are building a pedestrian bridge to Tijuana International Airport in Mexico, in effort to turn it into low-cost alternative to San Diego's airport; when completed in 2015, bridge will allow air travelers to park their cars in the United States and walk across an enclosed 325-foot passageway directly to Tijuana International airport. MORE

Jan. 4, 2014

Ordinary metal pipe that stopped Seattle's Big Bertha, world’s largest-diameter tunnel-boring machine, in its tracks is neither old nor very big; tale of object that stymied Bertha is still a mystery but city managers are focusing on why pipe was left down there, why its presence was not known to tunnel crews, and what will be involved in getting it out. MORE

Jan. 3, 2014

Approval process for elevating deck of Bayonne Bridge to accommodate giant cargo ships is said by critics to be a case study in environmental bureaucracy; Port Authority’s 'fast-track' approach to rebuilding bridge, which connects Staten Island and New Jersey, has generated more than 5,000 pages of federally mandated archaeological, traffic, fish habitat, soil, pollution and economic reports that have cost over $2 million. MORE

Dec. 20, 2013

Seattle engineers say something unknown has blocked the progress of the biggest-diameter tunnel-boring machine in use on the planet, a high-tech, largely automated behemoth called Bertha; machine encountered object, which could be giant boulder, when it was boring two-mile-long, $3.1 billion highway tunnel. MORE

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